BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Burundi has lifted a 13-year
nationwide midnight-to-dawn curfew in a further sign of peace
in the tiny central African nation after more than a decade of
war that killed some 300,000 people.

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Ethiopian soldiers became the latest
batch of United Nations peacekeepers to begin leaving the tiny
central African nation on Thursday in a sign of its emergence
from a civil war that killed 300,000 people. Some 658 Ethiopians were flying home as part of a U.N.

By Andrew Cawthorne NAIROBI (Reuters) - Democratic progress in Burundi and
Congo is helping stability in Africa's volatile Great Lakes
region but the world must help build on early steps or risk a
return to violence, the U.N. representative for the region
said.

BUJUMBURA (Reuters) - Around 2,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees
have arrived in Burundi in the past month, many saying they
feel insecure in Rwanda or are being refused permission to
cultivate their land, the United Nations said on Thursday.

By David Mageria NAIROBI (Reuters) - East African leaders said on Sunday
that millions of people in the region faced hunger because poor
rains had affected vital crops and pasture, giving their New
Year messages a somber tone.